Fishing lures are known in the art for use in trolling to simulate the swimming movement of a bait fish. Such lures are constructed from articulated sections that are arranged relative to each other to move freely and undulate back and forth as the lure is pulled through the water.
An example of such a lure is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,606,389 (Formann) which discloses a fish lure with pivotally connected head and body sections in which the head swings from side to side. U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,782 (Gudermuth) describes a fishing lure with a front section and a tail section that swivels, rotates and can pivot up and down in a waving motion. Shrimp-like lures are also described that are made with a head, tail and one or more intermediate sections that are hinged together or pivotally connected to provide an arching and straightening movement in the water, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,334,792 (Royston), 2,663,964 (Martin) and 2,910,799 (Wentworth). Also disclosed is a fish lure made of three articulated components that are hinged together for side-to-side movement as it passes through the water (U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,280 (Ryder)).
A disadvantage of these lures is that the body sections move only from side-to-side or only up-and-down which does not provide a realistic swimming motion of a live bait fish. Another drawback is that their use of hinges and pivot pins to connect the body sections which adds to the complexity of the lure. Such connecting members are also undesirable because they can add unwanted weight to the lure.